What we are now discussing is the misuse of data collected under ‘Facebook quiz – This is Your Digital Life’ pushed by Cambridge Analytica. And all of us, the gullible, social enthusiasts will recall our willingly participating in many such quizzes and stunts. We have for ease of simplicity used the convenient ‘Login with Facebook’ option in for many other sites and platforms. Each time agreeing to a certain degree of profile data access and share.
It is true that Facebook knows more about you. It can far better predict your possible reaction to situations. And they will most of the time right. It is all okay until the time that data is traded, accessed and used without the direct permission of users.
If you trust Facebook, there is nothing to worry. Google and Yahoo have always assured us of being proactive. Remember, ‘Koi Halwai Nahi Bolta Uski Mithai Baasi Hai’. No sweetmaker will ever tell that his ‘sweets’ are stale.
The users always had some idea of how much the social media platforms know about them. It was clear that it is some of the best segmenting tool available for targeted addressing of a message. Along with a high-frequency media and on-the-fly management, it creates a quick adaptive environment, a tool available for misuse. Human intelligence with self-learning algorithms and machine intelligence makes for best non-intrusive subliminal interference and influence.
That puts the users in a tight spot. They have in many ways aligned themselves with the Facebook’s purported mission of global transparency. At every stage, they have been giving away rich profile data and easy access to 3rd party apps. They have set themselves for easy manoeuvrability.
As expected, for some time people will stop using the option to use the Facebook ID to log in to digital interactions. There will be few #QuitFacebook #DeleteFacebook moments. All of this will die an abrupt death when some new shit hits the ceiling.
The answer is not quitting Facebook, but intelligently managing controls on what you share. It is about not accepting the unwarranted requests.
The era of self-regulation is dead. Gold Standards remains a concept. The consumer control that has been demanding and creating new social framework will define data use too. It will have to create far stricter and effective laws to protect from data misuse.
We users must not lose the momentum. We must question every possible platform and practice before accepting any new definitions. We must reclaim our lives and avatars in digital space.
BLOG/18/2018- appeared first at MXMINDIA.com
